As someone who is ready for Spring, I have already begun working in my gardening. I have been weeding and trimming and preparing beds to sow seeds of wildflowers in the hopes of attracting more pollinators, bees and butterflies, as well as ladybugs. Like a kid with a Christmas toy catalog, I pore over my heirloom seed catalogs and research which would grow best where I live. I not only delight in the colors but in the names like cowslip, Eastern blue star, Foxglove Beardtongue or Great Blue Lobelia.
I have often wondered if my desire to garden goes back to the agrarian roots of my ancestors, many of whom were farmers. It is a certainty that it at least goes back to my own Mother who loved to garden. She inherited her love of gardening from her father, my Papa Fred who got a degree in agriculture. My Mother, however, loves more formal English-style gardens. Not wanting a traditional landscaped yard or formal garden, I am hoping to create a wilder one. Why? Because I want more flora and fauna. I want to fill it with a diversity of plants as well as some water features in the desire to attract more wildlife.
Yet as I worked on preparing the soil in a back bed, I had the feeling I was being watched. Looking about myself, I didn’t see anyone. Despite the nice weather, none of my neighbors were outside in their yards. No one was walking past my house. Then I happened to look up. There on an oak branch above me was a hawk. I strained my eyes to see if I could tell what kind it was. Most likely a Cooper’s Hawk. I was certainly grateful that I wasn’t some small mammal, like a squirrel or chipmunk because he would have easily swooped down on me and snatched me away in his talons. As it was, he just observed me closely.
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